Reprive
by 1-Artemis-Hunter-1
Summary: Part 4 of the Runaway series. After his father disappears, Gregor decides running away would solve his family's problems. Ten years later, he falls into the Underland to begin his stint as the Warrior. Takes place during the Marks of Secret where Gregor must face the Bane growing up and some old friends of the Queen in need of his help. Need to read books 1-3 to understand. Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all, welcome to the 4th installment of the Runaway series! This next story covers the 4th Overland Chronicles 'The Marks of Secret'. This book's plot made me decide on the title 'Reprive', which means "to take back", referring to helping the mice. I won't say too much for those who haven't read the series in a while ;) it's always fun to relive an old series.**

**I wanted to give a shout out to everyone who **have** been following the series and reviewing all the chapters. All of you are amazing and make my day happy. So sorry I made everyone wait so long for this**

**"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing" -Walt Disney**

**As always, I do not own Suzanne Collins's characters or plot lines.**

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"Easy, just go slow." I held my hands out pathetically in front of me in case Serenity suddenly fainted. "Don't push yourself too hard."

The baker rolled her beautiful violet irises at me and knocked away my closest hand. "Oh, Gregor, I am perfectly healthy. Do not fret over me."

I chuckled but kept one of my hands behind her back as we made our way through the palace. I was just glad she was out of her isolation room and officially plague-free. It had been two weeks since I returned from the suicide quest for the cure that Doctor Neveeve sent us on. Serenity tried to reassure me she hadn't been diagnosed long before I got back, but I still worried every day she was behind that glass case.

I was worried about my bond Ares, too. He was in the absolute worst shape of all the plague victims. Infected first in Neveeve's labs where she was studying the plague and where she had the cure the whole time. By the time we got back, he was nearly on death's door. So weak he couldn't move from his hospital bed, could hardly even breathe. As his bond, it was hard to see.

Now, after about three weeks of getting Neveeve's cure, he has started sleeping upside down again, his fur had begun to grow back in, and almost all his purple bumps had flattened. He still had the plague in his blood, so he had to stay in isolation, but he wasn't contagious anymore so we could talk to him in person instead of through bad lip reading.

"Luxa gave me very strict instructions to get you to dinner or she'd gut me." I laughed.

Serenity gave a gentle laugh but I could tell it took a lot out her. The plague was a horrible disease, even for a small time like she was exposed to it, and it drained her energy during her short period in isolation. I helped her the rest of the way to High Hall where her bond, Aphrodite, was waiting. The chocolate brown bat opened her wings at the sight of her bond, the action making the pink vaguely heart-shaped accents spotting along her wings become more visible. Serenity used me to push off and get to her faster.

This was the first time the two of them had been reunited with each other since Serenity had been placed in quarantine. "Careful," I warned weakly, chuckling to myself as she stumbled into her flier's embrace. I know they were close even for bonds, but there was something else pulling them together. Serenity rescued Aphrodite, the runt of her litter that never learned to speak. Until she met Serenity. Her heart of gold saved the flier. The same one that had the patience to save me, too.

They pulled away laughing at what I could only assume was a shared joke in their quiet communication. It made me smile to see them both happy again. Without her, Aphrodite had regressed even further, not talking at all and barely leaving Serenity's room in the bakery. I forced myself to visit her the last few weeks so she didn't go crazy. A lesson learned from my own mistakes, I suppose.

Serenity's father was relieved to see me. Apparently telling the flier about her bond was the only thing that had convinced Aphrodite to eat after more than a week. We kinda bonded through that in our own way.

A golden flash streaked through the open ceiling and Aurora opened her wings at the last second to land gracefully. "Hey, Aurora." I waved to her and received a nod of greeting from the softly spoken flier. "Hey, Lux-" I stuttered to a stop when her bond was not on her back like I had expected. I blinked in surprise. "Where is-"

A few taps on my shoulder revealed the future Queen but I was too busy clutching my heart to say hello. "Geez, woman!" I cried out, bending slightly to catch my breath. "We need to put a bell on you, seriously."

Hands on her hips, Luxa rolled her eyes but a smile threatened against her normal side smirk. She quickly left me in my post heart attack state to hug her best friend. I sat in one of the stone chairs along the obnoxiously long table to watch the encounter. Of course, the princess engaged the bonds flawlessly. I saw the way she kept her arm around Serenity to support the still weak girl.

My shoulders relaxed knowing both of us were looking out for the baker's daughter. "Have you visited Ares recently?" Serenity questioned as Luxa led them over to the table, holding her forearm as extra support. I shot up to help her into the chair next to me. She smiled weakly at me, clearly tired out by even the small amount of activity.

Despite all her tiredness and exhaustion, she still smiled through it all. I smiled gently too. _That's my girl_.

Luxa jumped to sit on the table between Serenity and me with a huff, arms crossed. I had never seen her so relaxed. She rarely broke her regal composure, even around me, but it seemed that everyone loosened their restraint around Serenity. "No, unfortunately." She blew a stray strand of silver hair from her face. "Vikus has kept my schedule full. I suppose I have quite a bit to catch up on after…" She waved her hand in a defensive flick, avoiding the actual words.

Serenity quirked an eyebrow at her friend, amused. "Disappearing? Living in the jungle for months and neglecting your responsibilities?"

The princess rolled her eyes with a smile. I guarantee if anyone else had suggested that she would have run them through with a sword or banished them, but Serenity also had that 'special case' kind of effect on everyone. "More along the lines of resetting diplomatic relations with all the species that believed the monarchy's power to be dead in Regalia. Many were rumored to be threatening an attack to fill the power gap."

A small glimmer of concern flashed over Serenity's face but she quickly smiled, patting the royal's knee. "You are our Queen for a reason, Luxa. We trust you with our lives." Luxa tried to seem appreciative but I could see the bit of uncertainty in her eyes like she wasn't completely positive in herself to fulfill that confidence.

Vikus and Solovet swooped in with their bonds before she could respond. As if they were waiting outside the door, the servants began to file in with the food a moment later so everyone quickly settled into a chair. Luxa hopped off the stone table and moved to sit on my other side, just to the left of the head seat. Vikus, Solovet, and their bonds sat across from us. Oddly, no one sat at the head of the table, but I decided not to comment; it wasn't really my place to ask anyway.

I bumped Serenity's shoulder. "First non-hospital meal, are you excited?" She giggled lightly as a servant slipped plates in front of us with the classic full-bodied fish with no eyes on top of a small number of greens and surrounded by familiar but odd colored vegetables.

Dinner passed with general chatter between bites until Vikus and Solovet stood about halfway through. "Forgive our early departure, but we must attend to council matters. Gregor, Serenity, wonderful to see the two of you." He smiled at us, eye wrinkles getting in on the action. He put a hand on Luxa's shoulder as he passed her.

When they finally disappeared through the curtain, I laughed. "Alright. That was awkward." I leaned back into the stone chair, turning my head toward the royal in search of answers.

Luxa sighed, pushing a mash of some vegetables around with her fork. "Solovet and I had a long...conversation about my priorities before we arrived." She tweaked her neck and clenched her jaw as if she was reliving the exchange and the frustration that went along with it.

"Priorities? You have hardly left the council room, and if you have it was to meet with diplomats." Serenity interjected, leaning towards her friend and talking across my reclined body.

A grateful glance from the princess flashed as she shook her head. "Yes, but she contested my planning of a party for Hazard's birthday."

I felt my eyebrows rise. "Really? She doesn't want her own grandson to have a good time on his birthday? His thirteenth birthday, no less."

Luxa continued to shake her head. "Solovet believes we are in a delicate time; not one conducive to a silly party."

I frowned and a strong urge traveled through me until I sat up. "Then I'll plan it. Hazard deserves to celebrate his birthday." Serenity wrapped her arms around my bicep and kissed my cheek. Luxa cracked a smile. "It's the least I can do for him."

"You owe him nothing, Gregor." Luxa insisted but her aggressive food mashing relaxed. "Though, with you planning the party, Solovet cannot halt its process. No one would argue with the Warrior."

I laughed. "Yeah. Right." Like she thought I couldn't see her, Serenity tried to hide a yawn. I turned back to her, bumping her nose with mine. "We should get you back to the hospital. You've certainly had enough excitement for today."

She protested, of course, but still followed when I stood and leaned against my side as I guided us toward the hallway. I turned to give a quick wave over my shoulder to Luxa as we exited High Hall; she flicked a few fingers in my direction as a response and I saw her strict posture collapse into the stone chair in a rare moment of relaxation. I smiled, glad she could just sit and chill out for a few minutes. She deserved it.

Serenity set her head against my shoulder, arms around my bicep again as we walked. It was quiet throughout the palace and it was nice to just be in her presence again. I had missed her more than I could put into words while I was on the made-up quest to the jungle, and when I finally got back to Regalia, she was behind a thick layer of glass.

You never realize how much you take the simplicity of touch for granted. I avoided physical contact with people while I was on the street. Mostly to protect myself, especially after I lost my mentor Jimmy. It had been so many years without allowing myself to engage and love another person, but with Serenity...it was like I never stopped. She made everything easy.

"What do you think about?" Her teasing voice broke through my thoughts.

I realized I had been staring at her and that we were no longer walking. I blinked and leaned down to press my lips gently against her hair. "You. Always." I earned a giggle and a hug as she hid her growing blush in my neck. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her shoulder. I loved being able to hold her and have her scent surround me; although at the moment it was more of the unnaturally clean smell that coated the hospital. I could still detect hints of her normal floral essence. Serenity pulled back just a little and I pressed our foreheads together.

She sported an expression I wasn't sure how to describe. Peaceful, maybe? There was definitely love in her eyes like there always was, but they seemed to sparkle more in this moment. For a fleeting moment, I thought she was crying. "Now, what do you think about?"

I seemed to catch her off guard but she just shook her head, looking towards the way we had just come from. Her expression fell a bit as if something unpleasant just ran through her mind. What I wouldn't give to hear exactly what she was thinking. Serenity focused back on me and any traces of the bad disappeared. She ran the tips of her fingers down my cheek. "Only of having you with me again. It was misery not knowing if you would return."

I sighed, hugging her closer. It hurt to think of her sad, though not a crazy idea since if I could miss her then she could easily reciprocate and miss me. It wasn't enjoyable to imagine my happy, caring girlfriend in the same depressed mood I had experienced in the jungle. I noticed we were still standing in the hallway and helped her back into her private recovery room; I could tell she was really exhausted because she was finally giving up a good portion of her weight for me to shoulder.

Thankfully the bed here was normal, not set up like those in the hospital with wheels and bars to prevent someone from falling off. Serenity eased down into the middle of it and I sat by her side, tilted towards her. "I am so sorry you had to go through this. Any of it."

She shook her head. "We could not have known that Doctor Neveeve really created the plague, or how she sent your group on a false quest. You are the Warrior, you are here to protect Regalia. We believed the jungle was the place that would save the city, so you could only assume it was the best place to go at the time." I nodded, rubbing her knee but still found it hard to meet her eye. "Least us not forget, that by venturing into the jungle, you saved Luxa. That action in itself saved Regalia in more ways than you or I could imagine."

"She is a pretty big deal around here, huh?" I laughed dryly. "I guess that's why I offered to help plan Hazard's party; she has so much to deal with right now."

Serenity pulled my chin up to her, smiling as I finally met her gaze. "It was a truly noble thing for you to do. I must make one suggestion and insist on the follow through."

I laughed for real now at her attempt to be forceful. "Sure. What can I do for you, 'Ren?"

"You must invite Lizzie."

I paused, certainly not expecting that to be her suggestion. We were forced to send my dad and sister back to the Overland after my first week back because their spring break was ending, and since my father had taken up his old job at the school and didn't want Elizabeth to miss too many classes, they headed back to Virginia. "Elizabeth? Yeah, I mean, I'm sure she'll love to come back to the Underland, but why is that important?"

Serenity glanced toward the door as if to confirm we weren't being monitored. "She has a...oh what did she call it, a smash? on Hazard."

I blinked for a millisecond after she spoke before laughter bubbled up and out of me with such abandon that I fell back onto the mattress. Serenity was laughing gently as well, though probably not really sure why I found it so funny. "Sorry, sorry. I think she meant she had a 'crush', not a 'smash'. So Elizabeth likes Hazard? You're sure?"

She nodded. "Lizzie and I spoke often after she arrived in Regalia."

"Yeah, how did that happen, exactly? She didn't know who you were."

"Do you remember when I said I had only been in isolation for half a fortnight when you returned?" She rolled her eyes. "I visited your mother to speak to her, even while she slept; Doctor Neveeve mentioned it could assist her mind in staying sharp through the disease. One of the last times I visited her before I was diagnosed was also when Lizzie arrived. Your father told her who I was and she sought me out after I was placed into isolation."

I went from confused and amused to grateful that Serenity had helped Elizabeth through the hard time that was dealing with our sick mother. Honestly, it was hard for even me to see her so weak and covered in purple lumps, and I hadn't been living with her for the last ten years. To have an older female to talk to was probably really helpful. "Thank you, for being there for her." She nodded as I kissed her hand that had found its way into mine. I shifted uncomfortably. "So you talked about her crush?"

"Yes, after she met Hazard upon your return, that is." Serenity laughed and I joined her, although a bit unsure. The concept of my baby sister dating was something that never crossed my mind when I was nine and I made it a point not to think of anyone I had left back in Virginia after I left. I was a little torn with the idea now; I know big brothers are supposed to be fiercely protective and give their sisters' dates a shakedown, but was that something I could even do? Was I honestly in a place to comment on Elizabeth's life?

After being gone for nearly all of it, I didn't feel like I had the right to tell her anything. Not that I minded if she was interested in Hazard because he was a great kid. Plus after living in the jungle with only his father for his whole life, he didn't know how to make a move on a girl anyway, so she'd be the one in the driver's seat.

"Gregor?" Serenity snapped me out of my thoughts.

I shrugged. "I don't know, 'Ren. I just don't know how to feel about it. I promise to send a note to them about coming as soon as I get back to my room, though."

She nodded and we said our goodbyes. "Gregor." She called out to me as I was about to round the door. "She still values your opinion. You are, and will always be, her elder brother."

My chest tightened for a moment before I let out the breath and nodded at her. "Goodnight, Serenity. I love you."

"I love you, too. Warrior." I chuckled at her and slipped into the silent corridors of the sleeping palace.

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** Don't kill me. Yes, I realize how long it's been, as a recent review reminded me that it had been at least a year, and I sincerely apologize. I wanted to have a few chapters done before I posted in case I hit a small writer's block or life got in the way but then I hit a massive writer's block _and _life got in the way. The good news is I have a full chapter written and some of a third, but I didn't want to keep people waiting any longer, so I'm going to make an effort to post every week; even if it kills me.**

**Forever yours,**

**Artemis.**


	2. Chapter 2

**It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop ~ Confucius**

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Party planners seriously get a bad rep. I was up to my neck in lists, names, and places that I needed to organize Hazard's party. I had confirmed with Mareth that the Arena would be clear and provide plenty of room for all of the guests, plus the two scrolls full of food Hazard requested. I groaned as I looked over all the items, especially the deserts. All of the deserts.

The true request of a teenage boy with unlimited access to a palace kitchen and had never tasted chocolate before.

I condensed my to-do list and shoved it into my pocket before starting the long walk to the isolated tunnel where Ripred continued my echolocation training. I was starting to really get it after he so insistently demanded these sessions. "Ripred!" I called into the darkness as I set the large stone back in place.

A short click before I turned around gave me the heads up I needed to know his tail was coming at my head. My hand snapped up to catch the offending limb before it could cause an achingly familiar sting. "Well, you're getting better. Finally."

I rolled my eyes, knowing he could still see it in the pitch black room. "Thanks. Is the Bane with you?" The white rat hadn't tagged along in quite a while, but anytime I asked, Ripred just waved it off. Sometimes he'd go so far to mention that the Bane had made some new friends and didn't care to hang out with 'Uncle Ripred' anymore.

"See for yourself." Ripred noisily plopped down against the wall and started gnawing on some bone he had brought along.

Lighting the oil lamp hanging from the wall next to the door provided a low radiating light into the room, allowing me to get a visual on the white rat for the first time in several weeks. "Woah." I breathed as the eight-foot mountain of fur hid nervously in the corner.

"He's not even full grown yet." Ripred mused, combing his fur nonchalantly. "We expect another two or four feet by Christmas."

I blinked around his weather forecast of the Bane's height and turned to the younger gnawer. "It's good to see you again, Bane."

"Oh no, don't call him that! He's been all about the name his mother gave him recently." Ripred snarked, clearly irritated by whatever argument grew from the contradiction of the names in the past. "Pearlpelt, isn't that sweet?"

I cocked my head in interest. I hadn't stopped to think that the Bane's mother may have given the pup a name before he was fated to be the Bane. It made sense, honestly. His fur, or pelt, was white like a pearl. I had never noticed before, and maybe it was the low light, but patches of his fur would catch the reflection of the flame and shimmer shades of pink, blue, and even green.

Although never getting a good look at the mice when we met briefly in the jungle, Luxa attested that most of them had silky white fur. Even though the only fully white bat I've met was Queen Athena, there have been more fliers that I could count that used white within their coat patterns; like Nike. Gnawers, on the other hand, have only been varying tones of grey or black. Almost immediately after his birth, it must have been painstakingly obvious who the pup was destined to be.

"It's a nice name." I shot back at the old rat's mocking. "It suits you."

"It doesn't matter what I like to be called, everyone just calls me Bane, except Ripred." The large white gnawer grumbled, inching a little further into the lamp's radius. "He makes fun of my name. Calls me Pearlpet or Pearliegirlie."

I frowned at the rat. I knew he was hard to get along with through personal experience, and that he plays the bad guy in order to teach a lesson, also from personal experience. Despite all of his faults, I had confidence Ripred could raise the potentially threatening pup to not be forced into the horrible fate he was born with. Now I was questioning that decision. Maybe, despite having a small soft spot for pups (or children), he was too brash and mean to do the job I needed him to do.

Ripred shrugged the accusation off. "It's a hard name to say! Practically a tongue twister. Go on, try to say it three times fast. Pearlpelt, Pullpet, Purput. See? It's hard."

"Pearlpelt, Pearlpelt, Pearlpelt." The Bane rattled off without hesitation, holding his adoptive father's eyes. "He can say it, just chooses not to, to humiliate me."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. This was the opposite of what I needed Ripred to do. I needed him to teach the Bane compassion maybe even trust and faith, _absolutely _not to fester hatred. Even just tough love to the point of creating hatred for the Bane towards himself opens a floodgate for the Bane to hate anyone with Ripred's ideas, including other gnawers that don't necessarily want war. Which could just as easily migrate to humans.

It was a slippery slope, to say the least.

"Try to ignore him." I attempted to give him advice and ease the tension between the two larger than life rats. "It's not a perfect system, but it's what I do."

The Bane shook his head. "It's different for you, you're a rager. I wish I was a rage, or at least full grown. Everything would be different then."

Ripred yawned at the idle threat. "And please, tell us what would change when you're full grown."

"Well first off, I'd be king." The Bane shot back. Immediately my stomach clenched with unease at the conviction and malice in his voice as he spoke to Ripred. One wrong act could shift that from just Ripred to humans and then we'd be in trouble. The whole argument to kill the Bane was to prevent him from rising to power. Sandwich's prophecy warned specifically about his potential to be evil and bring about a war that we may not win.

Ripred, however, seemed highly unaffected by the Bane's plans. "Who's been telling you that? Twirltongue?" He droned.

The Bane hesitated, almost like an Omega would to an Alpha, glancing at the ground and shifting his feet. "Maybe."

"She's very persuasive, isn't she? I wouldn't put too much stock in what _Twirltongue _says." Ripred rolled his eyes. "She once convinced me I was well liked."

His second comment interested me for a moment because it reminded me of something from after the Prophecy of Grey. Ripred thought by coming on the quest, by helping defeat King Gorger, by asserting his ideas in the crazy gnawer's place, he could gain a following large enough to become King. Maybe the first reason he considered joining the quest came from Twirltongue planting ideas in his head the same way she was now with the Bane. Someone like that who could insert their thoughts into an influencer's mind and make them not only act on it but truly believe in it was more dangerous than the raging, full-grown Bane of prophecy.

"My other friends, too." The Bane continued to argue.

"Your friends." Ripred griped with distaste. "Anyone can be your friend if they bring you a few fish. Then they put ideas in your head. How you're so strong and brave, that you'll be king one day. You gulp down those lies just like the fish. You're no king, you're a big white fool. You have no idea who your real allies or enemies are."

"You're my enemy!" The Bane snapped, rearing his large teeth. "You are every gnawer's enemy when you make deals with pathetic humans, fliers, and nibblers instead of thinking of ways to kill them off! Twirltongue says you turned on Gorger because you thought you could lead us, as if any decent gnawer would ever follow you! You're nothing but a joke to the rest of us. I should-"

"You should what?" Ripred finally put some effort into his response, his voice low and challenging the Bane to do anything. "Kill me? You're always welcome to try, Pearliegirlie."

Amazingly, that's exactly what the Bane decided to do. He growled before letting out a roar, attacking Ripred. I was impressed while also discouraged by the Bane's willingness to go toe to toe with the old gnawer. I've seen him in action and even after years and years of training of all kinds, I would never attempt the same. He was just too deadly, too knowledgeable, too experienced.

The Bane swiped vigorously at Ripred and I jumped to be close to the stairs in case I had to retreat into the palace. I didn't have a sword, and even with just my hand to hand skills, I wasn't eight feet tall or be able to hold my ground against either of them without a weapon.

Despite his anger fueled attack, the Bane couldn't touch Ripred. The elder gnawer simply knocked him down with additionally frustrating ease of effort that only further spurred the Bane on. He had to be either incredibly brave or stupid to take on the rager. Or worse, deluded about his own power, and that was the most frightening option.

"All right, this has been fun. Time to settle down." Ripred crossed his arms as the Bane took a little longer to get back to his feet except the Bane didn't back down, yelling out once more before lunging at him again. Ripred easily deflected the attack, throwing the Bane into the solid stone wall with a thud that even made my head hurt. It was enough to stun him for more than a few seconds this time. "You can never stop until you hurt yourself, can you?"

I cringed for him as he rubbed the spot that had made contact with the wall. It hurt enough for the Bane to finally give up, hunching over and running his paws over his eyes. I was a little surprised to see him start to cry outright. Not sniffle, not just water, but full on body shaking sobs. "Great, here comes the flood." Ripred rolled his eyes again, collapsing back into his previous spot.

My anger finally bubbled to the surface and I stood with clenched fists. "Ripred! This isn't necessary. Why can't you be supportive, or at least lay off a little!"

"Because he hates me!" The Bane howled between his blubbering. "He's always hated me! He makes me come with him, leave my friends! He's treated me as his prisoner my whole life."

I frowned because some of those times he was forced to tag along were times Ripred brought him to my echolocation sessions. Did he really not remember the chocolate? The small action that I thought was building a bridge between him and me; a connection he could use to influence him when he struggled to understand the relationship between gnawers and humans.

I guess not, and it kind of broke my heart.

"Were you fed? Did you get the plague? No. After I agreed to spare your life and raise you from a pup?" Ripred returned, his voice neutral for the most place except the small raise of volume as he increasingly becoming angrier. "Yet here you are complaining I made your life hell."

"You didn't raise me." The Bane sniffled. "Razor did. He's the one that cared for me."

"Yes, he cared for you, and how did you repay him? Tell the Warrior here before he starts to feel too sorry for you. Go on, tell him!" Ripred's shouting only caused the Bane to retreat further, pulling his tail between his legs like a scared dog. He cuddled it between his paws and suckled on it, not unlike a child would to their thumb.

Ripred, now all riled up, continued. "Razor treated him like his own pup. Went hungry so the Bane could eat. Protected him, tried to teach him to survive, but where is Razor now you ask? Dead. Why? I'm glad you asked, Warrior." I narrowed my eyes at the old gnawer as he flicked his paws around in dramatic fashion to go along with his rant. "Pearlpelt here killed him. Over a crawler carcass."

"I didn't mean to." The Bane whimpered around his tail, avoiding any eye contact with either of us. "I didn't think it would kill him…"

Ripred gave a short laugh. "For you to knock him off a cliff? Tell me if I'm wrong, Warrior, but that tends to be the usual result."

"I didn't think he'd go over the cliff." The Bane repeated, retreating further into himself as he mumbled around his tail, almost refusing to remove it in order to explain. "I didn't hit him that hard…"

"Oh, there's more. Then he tried to eat his body to conceal the evidence." Ripred crossed his arms and leaned against the wall again, casting an 'I told you so' look in my direction as if he had just finished making his point to an invisible jury. "Soaked in Razor's blood, chewing on his liver. That's how we found him."

"No, no, no, no," Bane muttered on repeat. He appeared to begin to gnaw on his tail as the stress of the memory resurfaced, drawing blood.

Although gruesome, I felt my chest compress for the Bane. He did sound sorry, and it did seem that he liked Razor. A food famine the likes the gnawers faced in lue of Solovet's aggressive demand of land after the Prophecy of Grey War couldn't have been easy to live through, especially for a gnawer with the growing needs of the Bane. Still...to kill someone he perceivably cared for over a nearly inedible bug…

"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Just last week you blinded Clawsin in one eye and ripped off Ratriff's foreleg. Why? You can't even tell me why, so now I have to drag you with me because no one else can bear to put up with you! Stop sucking on your tail!" Ripred suddenly burst out in frustration during his rant. "Some King indeed! Do you really think anyone will take orders from someone who sucks on his tail?"

Bane straightened slightly at the accusation. "Maybe they already do." He hissed back. "You don't know anything. They do!" In a mad state, riled up by Ripred's teasing and attacks, the Bane bolted out of the cave. He disappeared quickly despite his fur's dramatic contrast to the dark walls surrounding him.

"Wait where I told you to wait!" Ripred shouted at his retreating form. There was no reply aside from the growingly faint scraping of the Bane's claws. "If he can find it that is. He'll get lost if he blinks." He sighed, his demeanor immediately shifting as the younger gnawer got further away.

There was silence between us for a long stretch as I tried to absorb the encounter. I sat on the small ledge in front of the door, running my hands through my untrimmed hair and over my face. Ripred collapsed near me, just under the lamp. "Well, he's out of earshot now. What do you think?"

I gave a long sigh. "He's a mess, Ripred." My shoulders fell with the weight of the situation. We failed. War was coming and there was nothing we could do to stop it. The one chance we had just ran down the tunnel. "How did you let it get that bad?"

The rat recalled. "How did _I _let him get like that? That big ball of crazy is not _my _fault!"

"Ripred, I put him in your care to avoid exactly what I just saw. He hates humans, he hates you, and he wants to kill all of us. How do you explain that? You were responsible for him!" I stood and started pacing. "I put everything on the line to save him, risked my reputation with the Regalians to allow him to live on under your care. All to avoid war, but now that's all he wants. Something went wrong somewhere, Ripred."

"I thought I could!" The rat shot back. "I thought I could teach him to be something other than the war-driven beast he was fated to be, but I got to him too late."

"Too late? He was hardly two months old when we found him, Ripred. How much more time do you need?"

He immediately shook his head. "His father had already left his mark. Snare, you remember. You watched him and the Bane's mother fight to the death." I blinked, remembering Goldshard fighting a gray rat in the labyrinth who she called Snare. It never occurred to me that it was the Bane's father and their disagreement was fueled by their pup. There was definitely nothing paternal about that one. "He was a vile creature by anyone's account. Why Goldshard ever agreed to be his mate is a mystery to me. I warned her against it, but no, she didn't listen. Didn't you wonder where the rest of the Bane's litter was?"

I stopped. "No, actually." Now that I gave it a second, most animals other than humans gave birth to multiples in their litters on most occasions. It did seem a little odd that he was the only one there, even gnawers didn't kick their pups out of the nest at that age.

"Snare killed them right in front of Goldshard and the Bane. He didn't want them competing for the Bane's milk." Ripred leaned further into the wall, clearly as troubled by the image as I was. "Totally unnecessary. Any number of families would have taken those pups."

I found the parallel to adoption in the human culture strange. Gnawers, rats, were still animals, and the conscious thought to take on another's children was hard for me to associate with them. "That's awful."

"He remembers it, too. All of it. That Snare beat him, that his parents killed each other. You would have thought he was too young but you merely need to mention Snare's name and watch him tremble."

"Do you think he'll manage to be King? Like that?" I asked honestly.

"He will find followers because he's the Bane. No arguing that. He's got the white coat, the size, and enough hatred brewing inside him to wipe out the Underland as we know it. Most rats will overlook the fact that he's unbalanced and he'll tell them exactly what they want to hear." Ripred shook his head, He looks almost disappointed like he actually cared. "They've been starved for too long. So many have died from the plague, especially pups. If it'll get them revenge, the gnawers won't care what state he's in."

A chill ran up my spine. He wasn't the baby I spared anymore. He was a gloomy, hostile, spiteful, pathetic war machine on the verge of breaking. "Maybe if Goldshard had lived, maybe he would have been alright." The tragic image of the small pup nuzzling his dead mother, desperate for her to respond, flashed through my mind.

"We'll never know. He's a dangerous mess, and we let him live." The gnawer hunched forward. "You couldn't kill a pup and I knew killing him would forever shut the door on peace. You were right; no one would follow me if I had killed him, but I think they needed to see the far extreme." He paused to look down the tunnel where the Bane had disappeared down. "Like a crazy gnawer of prophecy in order to realize my ideas for peace aren't as ridiculous as they thought."

I ran my hand over my face. "You're trying to tell me that letting the Bane start a war is the best option?"

"Nothing else to be done, now is there? Unless we don't wait and get it over with." Ripred stood, brushing himself off.

"What? Not wait for what?" The gnawer lazily pruned his fur like he was purposefully ignoring me. "Ripred, what are you thinking?"

"Haven't you been listening? We have to kill him, Warrior."

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**I totally thought I posted on Tuesday not Monday but as promised, another update! Yay! I also have made a lot of process with more chapters, I'm getting back into the grove of this story so I'm excited for everyone to read it :) Leave a review and let me know if you like it so far, thank you so much 3**

**Yours,**

**Artemis.**


	3. Chapter 3

**"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough"-Og Mandino**

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"Kill him?" I pulled away, still surprised by the suggestion. "Ripred, we can't kill him. You just said it yourself, the gnawers need to see how unstable he is; they can't do that if we kill him in an unmarked cave underneath the palace of Regalia. Making him a mauter only spur them on and _officially_ start a war."

The old gnawer cast a long look at me before finally hauling himself to his feet. "I know you're conflicted, Gregor." I broke from his eyes because it was true. Even seeing the craziness that the Bane had turned into, his anger against humans and gnawers, I still couldn't forget the scared little pup that nuzzled its mother and begged for her to wake up. "It was different when we first found him, but things have changed."

I ran a hand over my face and sighed. "What changed exactly, Ripred?"

"Well, there's the prophecy."

My stomach dropped. Of course, there was another prophecy to loom over my head because there could never be a dull moment with Sandwich. "Naturally." I spat, rubbing the back of my neck, trying to focus on prickling of the short new hair growing rather than the severity of the talk. Three prophecies done but that wasn't enough for the eccentric prophet. He probably wasn't going to let up with these Warrior prophecies until I actually ended up dead.

"We didn't want to throw it on you so soon after the last two, but it's there." Ripred affirmed. "The Prophecy of Time."

Time. That's what the Underlanders referred to life as, time. Time to live, or time to die.

I took a deep breath. "And it says I kill the Bane?"

"That's my interpretation, yes. I'll be here to help you train. I'm not going to let you go into this final brawl without the smarts or skills to finally put an end to this era of war." The rat stood again, creeping closer to me. I stood as well as he whispered his plan. "We'll do it tomorrow during your next lesson. Bring your sword and tell no one."

Setting the large stone back into place and sealing myself off from the tunnel, I knew I had to bring my father's sword tomorrow, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it to protect the Bane from Ripred if I needed to. Teaming up with the old gnawer was almost second nature now, but the one thing I refuse to let myself do again was murdering someone in cold blood. Even someone as mental and dangerous as the Bane had the potential to be. I was a new man, in a new city where I had a girl that managed to see the last shred of humanity left in some far corner of my soul.

She had confidence in me to be better, and now I had to be. For her and myself.

"Warrior!" The loud voice called out, breaking me from the mindless walking that had brought my body to the hospital. Howard was standing outside my mother's room with a stone clipboard and a smile. It was hard to see him post-plague in comparison to the man I met before the Prophecy of Bane quest. He was still about twenty pounds under his normal weight and the stocky muscles of a healthy man in his prime were gone. The plague had left its mark as purple blemishes that would only ever fade slightly. Despite all that, he wore a smile with more conviction and purpose than the first version of himself. He knew what to do with his life now and he was excited about the future. "A surprise awaits you. Some good news. A welcome change."

He waved me in and I couldn't help but match his smile as my mother was sitting in a separate chair. "She walked there all on her own." Howard whispered in my ear as we approached her.

"Gregor," She sent me a somewhat off smile, her voice quieter than usual but it was progress nonetheless. "There you are! I've been up since six and you haven't visited until now? I was getting ready to rearrange the furniture out of boredom."

I couldn't help but smile at her gentle scolding. "Maybe leave that for tomorrow, you've already had a big day."

"Yes, in fact, you should get back to bed." Howard jumped in. "We do not want to overdo it on the first day."

She didn't argue when he offered her an arm but tapped it instead of taking it. "No, let me try it for myself first." Scrunching her face with determination, she hoisted herself to her feet.

Howard and I watched from just behind her as she attempted to make the small distance from her chair to the bed. She made it the short five paces just in time, collapsing against the sheets just as she would have fallen to the floor. We both rushed to assist her fully into the bed. "This is most excellent progress." Howard encouraged her. "Every day we add a little more and you will have your full strength back in no time. I must make my rounds with the medicine now, excuse me."

"He's a good boy, that Howard." Mom commented after he turned the corner.

I shifted, wishing I had pockets to shove my hands into. "He's the best."

"He'll make a fine doctor." She commented with a wispy voice as she caught her breath from the short exercise. "Would...would you ever like to be a doctor?"

I blinked, a little taken back by the uncertainty and questioning in her voice as she looked up at me from the bed. It was almost like a little kid asking an adult if Santa was real after a kid at school said he wasn't. "Nah, that stuff doesn't interest me much. Never gave it much thought, really."

"Sit with me?" She asked gently. I sighed and pulled her vacated chair closer as if I had a choice. My mother was quiet for a few minutes and I kept my eyes down, too awkward to look at her while she thought of something to say. "This is a little surreal, isn't it? I hardly recognize you."

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. I was regretting this kind of conversation. I don't know you anymore, let's have a tearful reunion and become a family again. I couldn't give her what she wanted, and part of me didn't want to. "Yeah, I guess I grew up a little in the last nine years…"

Silence fell between us after my awkward laugh trailed off after my bad attempt at humor. "You could have stayed."

I passed a hand over my face as it finally came out, finally looking up at the hurt expression that no child wants to see on their mother's face. "Maybe." I choked out, licking my lips. "In a different life, maybe we could've made it work. In that moment, at such a young age, it was the only thing I thought I could do to actually help and make a difference." She started to shake her head with some kind of objection but I interrupted. "It was flawed, okay, but did it work? Elizabeth said she went to science camp every year, would that have happened if you had to pay for a growing boy at the same time?"

My mother sighed and her counter fell away. "Were you at least safe? Fed?"

I blinked at her with a frown that seemed to answer the question immediately. "Sometimes, but I'm not going to lie to you. It wasn't easy. Yes, I was hungry a lot. No, I wasn't bundled up in front of a fire every night. I was in danger a lot and have scars that I don't think you'd want to see, but that came with it. I've accepted it because I had to, and it's alright that you don't because I never thought I'd have to explain it to you."

"You never wanted to try to find us again?" She found her voice with the defeated question. She was hurt, that was obvious enough.

I shook my head with no hesitation. "No."

"Gregor." My mother's eyes welled up and quickly started to shed tears. Nothing really stirred inside me that should have been. I wasn't sorry I left, and I wasn't sorry I didn't feel bad because I had committed to being alone a long time ago.

I had been scammed a few times by little kids, younger than me when I first ran away, when I was still a naive vagabond. They'd come up to you, eyes all big and cute with a few tears, begging for anything. Then run away with a shit-eating grin to their parent or mentor when you gave them half of your day's earnings, leaving you with nothing to show for it but an invisible sign that read 'complete fool' for everyone to see.

"I'm not sorry." I continued, straightening up in the chair. "I left to give you four a better life and in no way did that involve me coming back five, ten, fifteen years later as if nothing happened. Everything happened." I stood, riling myself up as I talked. "Boots was born, Elizabeth grew up. She's going to use that big brain and go to college and become a _doctor_ or something and you could relax. That's how it was supposed to end. No one was supposed to fall into the Underland, you weren't supposed to get a debilitating plague; none of this is going according to plan."

"If it had, I wouldn't have gotten you back." She retorted through my monolog. "It doesn't matter if any of that happens or not, this place brought our family back together, and I wouldn't trade that for all the money in the world. Don't you understand that? I could have thought of a billion ways to fix our situation and I promise to you absolutely _none _of them involved losing any of you kids. I would never have thought of putting Boots up for adoption, letting you run away, or send Lizzie away to a boarding school so she'd be better off. Absolutely not. You don't break up family."

I stopped pacing during her speech and stared at her with a somber expression. "Then if my first thought was to break up our family, what does that say about me?"

"Gregor-!"

I didn't hear the rest as my long strides took me out of the hospital wing and through the palace like a bat out of hell. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't want to be in the hospital anymore and reminded of all my mistakes. My abandonment of Ares, of my unsuccessful quest to find the cure for Serenity, of my failure as a son to my mother.

I couldn't go to the royal wing either where another failure of my family life to be a present and loving brother for my sister, or our defeat in the Vineyard to save Hazard's only family. Hell, even if I found Luxa, I'd only be reminded that my distracted fighting in the boat during our quest to find the Bane led to her and her bond being stranded in the jungle, too injured to return. And in her absence, launched Regalia into a free fall of diplomatic hellfire that teetered on full out war.

I skid to a stop just before I would have fallen straight down the abrupt end of the smooth stone corridor. The two guards tilted their heads at me, probably wondering if I had a death wish and that throwing myself off a palace wall was certainly a strange way to go about it. I panted somewhat aggressively as I hadn't breathed properly during my marathon.

As I thought about walking through the city seemed a decent enough way to clear my head, maybe even get my frustration out in the arena by decimating a few dummies, a voice whispered into my ear. "Jump."

In the next moment, I didn't hesitate to lean the edge of my woven sandal on the smooth ledge of the stone before leaping off completely. While my stomach dropped all two thousand feet to the street, I stretched my legs as far out as they would go in order to allow the bat the slip underneath me without hindrance.

Black fur, although a bit patchy, appeared beneath me and my heart soared even higher than us through the air. "Ares!" I grinned at the large flier, running my hands over his slightly uneven coat to make sure he was really there. If he wasn't, I was already dead and this was a pretty strange 'ever after'.

"Warrior." He purred in return, dipping to circle around the palace, just happy to be flying again. I grinned, just as happy to be in the air with him again. "How fair you?"

I nearly laughed. "How am I? I'm not the one that just went through a bout of plague. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

He have a small 'huh' of laughter in return. "It took much convincing, a small amount of guilting Howard, and Luxa's assistance of course. They released me into her custody."

"Well that's great. Now I can actually keep my eye on you." I joked for a moment but immediately felt gut wrenching guilt. "Ares, I can't even begin the say how sorry I am for putting you through all of this. I'm a worse bond then Henry."

He coasted around the palace again. I noticed he was specifically avoided flying through the tunnels like we used to when we went on flies in the past. "You did not betray me, Gregor."

I sighed, turning around to lay across his back, my head on the back of his neck. "I basically did though. Betrayed the most important part of our bond promise. To look after each other. I did the exact opposite. I pushed you away and you got treatment from an isolated lab and caught the plague! If I had just gotten out of my own head and been committed to our bond like I should have, you would have never gotten the plague."

He was quite for a moment and I prepared myself for him to spin me off, letting me fall to the city below like I deserved. "Before you fell, I would never said this, but I believe that every action we perform is necessary. Sandwich foretold all of the past weeks. If it had not started with me, then it would have come forth by someone else and perhaps created an even worse situation."

I almost laughed, running my fingers though what glossy fur that was left of his coat. "You sound more like the Warrior Sandwich hoped for his prophecies."

"I am bonded to the real one." The flier joked in his deep purr. "Truly, Gregor. If the plague had become known any other way, the truth about Neveeve may have not been revealed, or Luxa may not have made it home. I believe we experienced the best outcome possible, and I would gladly go through it again to make sure those factors happen again." I let out a long breath, a little stress about him hating me melting away. "Does this ease your uncertainty?"

"Yeah," I breathed, sitting up properly again only to be quickly distracted by a cloud of raining children. "What is going on over there?"

Ares tilted toward the Arena and gave a few puffs of laughter. "An exercise to train the pups to trust fliers. Would you like to join?"

"Oh no. I trust you. I trust you. Yup, I'm all good right here on my bond. That I trust." I stammered out, the idea of purposely falling even five feet making me want to spoil Ares's nice new fur with the contents of my stomach.

Ares didn't even try to hold in his laughter at my clear discomfort but turned in to coast to the Arena floor. As we touched down, I noticed that Luxa and Mareth were the ones directing the exercise. If falling apart with laughter at the sight of the children flopping around in the air counted as supervising. "Stay tucked up, Boots!" Luxa called to my sister with a smile. "Hold your knees!"

I was surprised when I only just noticed my sister was part of the storm of children. She was obviously older than the other toddlers that made up most of the group. Hazard apprehensively joined them as well, looking even more out of place. "Trying to teach her to be like you?" I asked the Queen as I came up behind them. Boots actually did quite well, pulling her limbs into a ball and rotating much like how Luxa would when she was being dramatic. She would get a few meters before ultimately flopping out of formation and flapping her arms like wings, calling up to the bat that it was her turn to be caught.

Luxa didn't hide the carefree grin as she turned at my question. It was nice to see her smiling again after all the turmoil of surviving in the jungle alone while not sure if she would ever return to the city she loved. Then of course, losing her uncle for a second time. She had been spending more time out of the palace between diplomatic meetings and whatever else the council demanded of her. There was a lot for her to catch up on, but she seemed to be enjoying being among her people again; not to mention they were more than ecstatic to have her back as well. "Perhaps. She has great potential."

"How's Hazard doing?" I looked up and watched as the lanky teen got ready for another drop. He fell straight up and down, gently waving his arms in small circles, with his legs hardly open. Thankfully, the flier that caught him was able to coast underneath him so the Regalian family jewels remained intact. I cringed for him.

Luxa looked up at the black haired, green eyed, half-lander. True to her promise, they had become quite close in the short time he had been in Regalia. They were almost inseparable from what I could tell when I wasn't being tossed around between murder planning, emotional conversations, and party prep for the almost-thirteen-year-old.

Most of all, it was just nice to see Luxa have a family member to love again. She had so few left, after all. "He does well, considering he had only rode a bat for the first time a fortnight ago. It is a nice break for him." I nodded, knowing how much time Luxa had him studying to expand his extraordinary language skills.

The boy was already fluent in Lizard and could hold conversations in several others, including the click-like language of the crawlers that he learned from Temp during the quest for the cure. Vikus was ecstatic to say the least and immediately arranged for as many tutors as he could manage. Ripred even agreed to teach him to squeak properly in Rat-enese. Luxa managed to restore relations with Queen Wevox to get Purvox, a freaky looking red spider, to come and tutor him in the weird vibrations they use to communicate. I was almost glad I didn't have time to watch in on those lessons as bad memories came back from the first quest when the Queen nearly had us all wrapped up and injected with digestive saliva.

Yeah, fun times.

Mareth whistled and the fliers rallied all the dropping children, bringing everyone to the spongy grass. Boots ran over, asking if I had seen her and quickly telling me everything she did without waiting for any of my answers. I laughed and wrapped her up, hauling her onto my hip as she continued to babble. "Shall we meet in High Hall for lunch?" Luxa asked, Hazard just behind her with their hands clasped.

"Lead the way, Princess." I swooped my open arm towards the castle and got an elbow to the upper arm in return as she walked past.

Our group all sat down around the stone table with the addition of a flier with peach fur and white stripes, not unlike a tabby cat, named Thalia who Hazard had started to take a shine to. She was only half the size of Aurora and the longer I spent with her it became more clear how young she was.

Her and Hazard were giggling from their side of the table almost the whole meal as they swapped jokes. It was a little unsettling how long she would laugh at some of them. I told her a few myself, changing the most classic Overland jokes so she'd understand like 'Why did the flier cross the river? To get to the other side.' and I'm not kidding, she laughed for ten minutes.

"Do you think she'll out grow that?" I whispered to Luxa as the flier nearly choked on the mouthful of food she had unfortunately just taken when Hazard gave his latest punch-line.

The royal cast her gaze to the two with mild annoyance but also amusement. "I hope so. He has his heart set on bonding with her." I shook my head with a small chuckle and continued to eat my grilled fish carcass, mushrooms, and bread. It still amazed me to rip apart the fresh bread, so used to pulling stale loaves out of the bins behind bakeries or restaurants. Serenity held conversation between Luxa and I, but in the back of my head I was still thinking of Ripred's plan.

Luxa took our mixed pack to the royal chambers after an earlier promise to Hazard to play some classic Regalian games. I walked with Serenity to make sure she made it there but then I snuck out to walk the never ending halls of the palace and clear my head. All I wanted to do was find Vikus and get his opinion, which I already knew would be the opposite of Ripred's. I hesitated because I knew he'd involve the council, and my feelings about that bunch were far from high at the moment as most of them were in on the secret plot to weaponize the plague.

I mostly wanted to ask him about the newest prophecy Ripred mentioned, but that might raise some red flags with the old man. I grinned when I suddenly had the epiphany I was waiting for. Turning on my heels, I started towards the forsaken room full of Sandwich's prophecies for the one person that was as close to the original prophet as possible.

"Nerissa." I greeted the short lived Queen when I found her on the other side of the handful of wooden items in the city. She was as thin as ever, but seemed to be less stressed as she was when she was on the throne; free to spend her days in this room as she pleased.

"Greetings, Warrior." She breathed, a ghostly smile. Most people thought she was creepy or bonkers but to me she was my slightly eccentric aunt that had the best advice and never judged. We really bonded when I spend half my life here examining the previous prophecies.

"I had a question I was hoping you could answer." I told her, walking over to the wall she was sitting across from and leaning against it. "Are there any more prophecies about me? The Warrior, that is."

"Oh yes, one in particular." She nodded I think, but she may just have experienced a bout of the shakes.

I gave her another moment to continue but she continued to stare at the carved wall. "Does it mention the Bane at all? Or me killing him?"

"It is unclear. It is possible he will die." That gained her more focused attention, tilting her head in a quizzical manner. "Why do you ask this, Gregor?" I open and closed my mouth, not sure if I should out Ripred and wondering what exactly Nerissa might do with that information if I did. "Someone is putting ideas in your head, are they? You may tell this 'someone' that the prophecy you ask of lies in the future, not our present."

I sighed and ran my hand over my face. "How do you know that?" I asked, but already knew. She was a prophet just like Sandwich. I'm sure she could read through the garble that distracted most people, ie: me.

"The events reported in it have yet to come to pass, and it is possible they never will as I suspect this 'someone' already knows." She gazed back to the wall again. "He believes he can control fate, but he cannot."

Oh she definitely knew it was Ripred, but I decided to just let the unsaid name hang between us so I could feign innocence if it ever came back to bite me, or her. "Will you show it to me?" Being prepared would be nice, for once.

"No. It will be of no use to you now." I groaned and let my head fall against the stone. Naturally. "Truthfully, I believe it would do more damage to you and your safety, as well as those you love. I advise you to avoid knowledge of this until the time comes. However, if you would like the ask Vikus about it, there is nothing I could do to stop you."

With a warning like that, why on Earth would I ever think about tackling it early? Having more time between prophecies was something I always complained about not having, so I suppose I shouldn't look at the gift horse too closely. Not to mention I already ruled out asking Vikus because he wouldn't be as nonchalant about Ripred's meddling as his niece. "No, I trust you, probably not a good idea." Not that her take on the prophecy would mean much to the rat, but it gave me a new perspective.

I bid her goodnight and made my way back to the royal chambers. I had forgotten the group was hanging out until I walked in and immediately got chastised by my girlfriend. "Gregor! Where had you gone off too? You were right behind us."

I kissed her cheek, hoping to ease her anger towards me while unable to stop a smile. "Just had to check on something."

A half passed out Hazard perked up from Luxa's shoulder. "Was it for my birthday?"

I nodded at the scapegoat topic and winked at him. "Quite the complicated party you have your heart set on here, bud."

"Perhaps for an Overlander." Luxa jabbed, earning fits of laughter from the traitors.

"Well, Princess, feel free to take over again." I snarked back, my mood lifting a bit from the weight of Ripred's plan. Her eye twitched as I purposely ignored the title she properly earned, but as far as I know, she hadn't had a true coronation yet, so I wasn't wrong. Yet no one would argue she wasn't the legitimate Queen of Regalia. The people here resoundingly approved of her and if they didn't before, the short period with Nerissa on the throne made them believers. I am one of the prophet's most adamant supporters, but even I felt better with Luxa at the helm. She was smart, strong, brave, and deserved the appreciation of her subjects.

Luxa rolled her eyes and simply gilded Hazard to his room so I did the same with Serenity with a slight chuckle. "You mustn't tease her so." The baker's daughter poked me in the side as we walked.

That, of course, only me laugh more. "Oh, she's more than tough enough for my jokes. It wouldn't be true to our relationship if I didn't." Serenity shook her head and looked away which I found a bit odd but we arrived back at her room in the non-quarantine area of the hospital. "How long until you can go home?" I asked to fill the space.

"Howard was confident about a quarter fortnight." She relaxed into her bed, exhausted, but laughed when she saw my scrunched up face. "Three days, Gregor."

I shook my head and sat next to her. "Aphrodite will be delighted. As will Cassio, and perhaps my sanity will finally return." She smacked my shoulder good-heartedly. "They miss you. I'm just glad I had you close during all of this or I'd go insane."

"You speak of me as if I am some remarkable person." Her neck flushed gently at the praise.

"You're the only thing that's kept me going through everything. I'm not sure how I would have gotten by on my own." I shifted toward her. "I just want you to know how much your effort meant to me and I'm serious about telling you. I regret never telling the few people I have had in my life how they were important to me. You're the most extraordinary one that's ever come into it."

Serenity's eyes softened. She reached up to run her fingers over my cheek, tracing gently as she moved to cup my jaw. I leaned into her hand and sighed. "We've gotten so close, and I know you. You haven't been yourself lately, is everything alright?"

She shook her head, pinching my chin before pulling away. "I will admit I have been dispirited as of late, being confined to the hospital for so long. Howard insists I will be able to leave and return home tomorrow; I believe my mood shall shift to resemble normality then. You need not worry, Gregor, please."

I scoured her face for any tell she may have been making up the excuse but her violet irises shinned with innocence and the cute half smile seemed to make my accusation sound ridiculous. "Alright. Well, hey, do you want to come to the kitchen with me tomorrow? I have to talk to someone about a very long list of deserts a certain Jungle Prince requested for his birthday party. Who better than the daughter of the city's best baker to advise me, huh?"

Serenity laughed, filling the small room with the beautiful chime. She pulled me into a kiss and leaned our foreheads together. "I would very much enjoy that, Gregor."

"Great, it's a date." I kissed her nose and stood, rubbing my hands over the sides of my shorts making a mental note to find the royal seamstress or whatever and introduce them to the miracle of pockets. "I'll come to get you after lunch, okay? Goodnight, 'Ren. I love you."

"And I you, Warrior." She giggled and I laughed. After one last mildly awkward wave, I made my way back to the royal chambers.

Luxa and Hazard were draped over each other, half asleep when I slipped through the thick purple curtains of the royal chambers; clearly, her attempt to get him into his room didn't go as planned. "Looks like a pretty crazy round of gaming went on in here." I joked when I saw all the rumpled blankets and usually meticulously placed pillows now askew and some almost halfway across the room. "Come on, Jungle Boy, let's get you to bed before you pass out."

Hazard limply allowed me to throw his arm over my shoulder and weakly assisted on the trip to his room. I managed to wrestle him under the covers and was nearly out of the room when he called back to me. "Gregor?"

I turned and leaned against the end of his bed. "What's up, dude?"

He blinked once at the unfamiliar word but brushed it off, probably used to that from when his mother was alive; she was an Overlander after all. "I was thinking, maybe it would be possible to...invite Lizzie to my party? Your father as well, and Boots stayed in Regalia but she would be invited too."

I almost laughed. Oh yeah, he definitely had a crush on Elizabeth. "Well, now that you mention it, I already sent a scroll to the Overland to let them know when the party is. I bet they wouldn't miss it for the world." Through his groggy sleepy state, he grinned widely. I winked even though I doubt he caught it. "Get some sleep, kid."

I slipped through his curtains chuckling to myself. Returning to the atrium, I found Luxa had picked up the pillows and blankets, attempting and failing to fold them neatly on the couches like the workers do anytime they're disturbed. I shook my head and undid the closest one, putting the corners together and halving it several times for a more pleasing look. "He asked me to invite Elizabeth," I laughed as demonstrated basic house care to the royal. "Serenity told me yesterday he might have a crush on her. You know, _like_ her."

Luxa nodded after a brief confusion on the phrase. "Yes, I deduced that." She smiled gently in a way she reserved for her adopted brother. "I hope it does not break his heart."

I frowned. "What would break his heart?"

She shrugged, unfolding one of her atrocious earlier attempts and slowly redoing it as if nothing was wrong. "When Lizzie returns to the Overland for the last time. Hazard may be of both worlds, but he will remain here and she will remain there. That is simply how things are done."

"What about me? I'm from the Overland and I stayed here." Not that I advocated keeping my brilliant sister from becoming the amazing neurosurgeon rocket scientist she could be by bringing her into this warlike world permanently. I just didn't appreciate her negativity.

Another shrug. "You are the prophesized Warrior from Sandwich's prophecies. Although much is not understood about your role, you were clearly sent here to keep the Underland from falling apart. It is not much of a leap to consider you would decide to stay."

I shook my head, mystified at her hyper-rational explanation. I sat on the small loveseat and she responded by stretching out on the longer couch across from me. For a moment I just stared at her. Her light grey hair had grown since the Jungle but the complicated braid she usually keeps it in was out creating a gentle wave in the locks. It hadn't quite reached the length it once was when we first met, a crazy mid-thigh length while braided that she could easily tuck into her belt while flying or performing her favorite daredevil tricks with her bond, Aurora.

Her posture was loose, looser than she usually allows others to see her in; one arm leaning against the armrest while the other took up a long distance along the back of the couch, her equally long legs tilted toward the empty cushions. They were crossed but stretched as far as they would go. Her eyes were locked on me as well. Those violet irises steeled from years of stress and loss. I imagine mine had a similar hardness to them. We had both seen death and too many horrors to count.

Luxa was beautiful, of course, and that's what gave me pause. "Isn't this a bit...I don't know, strange to you?"

"An Overlander living in Regalia permanently? Of course, however-"

I shook my head again and waved my hand to cut her off. "No, not that. This. Us. Talking."

Luxa tweaked an eyebrow up, using the arm on the armrest to leaning her cheek against her fist. "I am the Queen of Regalia and you are the Warrior, why should our communication be strange for you?"

I sighed and rested my elbows on my knees. "Because we aren't just the Queen and the Warrior here, Lux. It's you and me. We were romantic once, but here we are spending time together, talking about things like a sixteenth birthday party." She shifted, her posture becoming stiffer but she blinked, making it clear she still wasn't following my logic. "In the Overland, usually once a romance doesn't work out, you cut ties with that person and rarely speak again. It's pretty unusual for two people like us to continue spending time together after something like that. Especially after how our situation ended."

All the comfort of Luxa's demeanor had vanished as she sat almost perfectly straight again, the way she does when she's around the council. She cruciated my appearance with analytical eyes as if I just offered her bad political advice. "That is in the past, Gregor."

"I know but...it just feels a bit weird to be this close after everything we've been through." I finally met her gaze straight on, hoping whatever I was trying to say would be conveyed silently.

"I can be unfriendly." She only snarked rigidly.

I shook my head. "No that's not-"

Luxa stood with the same standoffish, cold expression, silencing my objection. "I understand you were hurt, Gregor. You forget that I was hurt by that decision as well." How could I forget the decision not to pursue our relationship that she ultimately made because of her sense of duty to her people. It may have been almost a year ago, but the sting of denial was still strong. Usually, that's where I stopped when I remembered that day in Ares's cave, but I never thought about how Luxa was feeling about being forced into that kind of situation.

I suddenly felt like the world's biggest ass.

"We both had to give up a part of ourselves that day." She continued, turning away as she moved to walk toward her room. "It may have been the correct decision, may be incorrect, but we must adjust to the new future in front of us. No matter how you view it, Gregor, it is more conducive for us to be civil with each other to navigate it. Perhaps then we will both make it to the other side of this war with ourselves intact."

I didn't breathe until her form disappeared behind her curtains.

* * *

**Slight delay on the update but this chapter is 6k words so its basically two in one lol. Drop a review!**

**Yours always,**

**Artemis.**


	4. Chapter 4

**"You must do the things you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt**

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_Perhaps then we will make it to the other side of this war with ourselves intact._

Luxa's words bounced around in my head as I walked down the never-ending corridors of the palace's underbelly to my lesson with Ripred. Although nothing would be taught today as he secretly planned to murder the Bane before he could turn the entire gnawer population against him and the humans. I tried to take calming breaths as I neared the cave but my lungs never seemed to have recovered after the gut punch Luxa delivered yesterday.

I should have realized she was just as hurt and affected by cutting off our relationship as I was. I was bad with my feelings after repressing them while alone on the streets for so long, but she had to do the same in order to be taken seriously as Regalia's youngest ruler. In an archaic world like this, she was under extreme pressure to do everything right. She couldn't afford to make the wrong decision, and I was every wrong decision she could possibly make wrapped up in one screwed up package.

I was a horrible person and an even worse friend.

My internal rant was cut off abruptly when I came to the stone door. I took in as much air as possible to calm my nerves and pushed it to the side just enough to squeeze myself, my father's sword, and the lantern through the crack.

The tunnel was quiet, more so than it usually is despite the old rat's ability to move silently through space in an attempt to whip me on the back of the head with his tail. Now, it was almost eerie. "Ripred?" I called softly into the void knowing it wouldn't take much to make my voice echo for hundreds of feet down the endless tunnel system.

No one answered. "Pearlpelt?" I called again, hoping that maybe Ripred just ditched the Bane in the tunnel to ambush after lowering his guard with me. Some faint scratching caught my attention from the direction the Bane ran off in yesterday. It came again but seemed to be further away, as if whoever was making it was receding back into the tunnel and away from the city. "Is someone there?"

With a flashlight from the museum, I followed the noise deeper into the tunnel until the lantern's glow was minimal. "Hello?" A second smaller cave opened up and as soon as I stepped into it, a muffled laugh rang out. I realized then that following the noise had been a horrible idea.

A prickle ran down my spine as three rats moved in around me, blocking my path back to the city. I didn't recognize any of them. My father's sword flashed in the low light as I pulled it out of its black leather sheath.

The gnawers fanned out to equal distances, making a dash for the main cave impossible without encountering one of them. I turned in an athletic crouch with my father's sword drawn in front of me, trying to keep each of them in front of me without leaving any of them behind me for too long.

I had managed a few cycles when they all suddenly flopped to the cave floor. I flinched as they sat lazily, almost not believing my own eyes. They looked ready to lounge the day away on a beach.

"At long last, we meet, Warrior." One spoke. The higher pitch of the voice was clearly female but it wasn't like any voice I had ever heard from a gnawer. So silky and low, dripping with a strange friendliness that almost left a sharp aftertaste. It was charming, but an unsettling amount. "You can lower your sword, Gregor. As you can see, none of us are in a fighting vein."

I didn't move except to keep my eyes on each of them. The gnawer that spoke stood out as I passed the flashlight over them. Her fur was abnormal. The other two gnawers had the usual muddy gray fur that most the species did, but this one's fur was silvery that, in any other species, would have been a beautiful coat.

"Ripred is so possessive of you." The female continued, running her fingers through the fur on her coat. "The rest of us can't get near you."

I eyed her. "Who are you?"

"That is Gushgore and Reekwell," The two males gave nice nods in my direction at their names. "And I am called Twirltongue."

Twirltongue. That was the gnawer Ripred said had been coaxing the Bane into all his crazy ideas. "You're the Bane's friends." I acknowledged.

"You've met the Bane?" Twirltongue probed.

I eyed her as she tried to be nonchalant. "Sure, as a pup. We brought him back after his parents died in the Labyrinth."

She laughed. "Oh, no need to hold back, Gregor. We know he's been here; his scent is everywhere, not to mention his blood."

I paused. If his blood was here...did Ripred already kill him? Without bothering to wait for me? Maybe he thought I wouldn't be able to go through with it as conflicted as I was about it. He wasn't wrong, but he seemed to be ready to do it together. "He's dead?"

Twirltongue rolled her eyes. "Probably wishing he was. I know I would be if I were forced to go on a road trip with Ripred." The trio laughed at the idea together. "But no, we only found a few drops of blood so he was most likely gnawing on his tail. Why would you think he was dead?"

I took a slow breath at her sickeningly sweet tone as she asked why I jumped to my conclusion. "In the Underland, blood tends to mean death."

She nodded, seeming to accept the explanation. "Yes, of course. You haven't seen him, then?"

"Not recently." I wasn't totally lying. It had been like...twelve hours.

"Well if you do, please tell him his friends are looking for him. Honestly, we're concerned. The Bane is barely more than a pup and Ripred is, to put it lightly, delusional." Twirltongue snaked a claw around her tail as she spoke. "Not to mention dreadful company, but I don't have to tell you that after your trip into the jungle, do I?"

Without thinking, I scoffed. "No." The gnawers cracked up at my stab. The death grip on my father's sword lessened slightly.

"I once spent four days stuck in a cave with him while hiding from an army of cutters. By day three I began to consider slipping out. I thought, 'Yes I'll be torn apart by mandibles, but would it really be worse than listening to Ripred make up poems about me for another whole day?'"

Twirltongue sat up slightly as she dramatically recited what must have been one of Ripred's poems.

"Twirltongue the gnawer,

Believes she's a clawer,

But Twirltongue is more of a pup for

She can't fight a cutter

Although with some butter

She'd happily eat one for supper."

I shook my head at the absurd poem that was a classic Ripred mode of passing the time. As the three laughed more, I snuck a few chuckles in. "Not very witty, of course, but it served its purpose. I felt demeaned by the poem's content and its inferior quality."

"He insults you with as minimal effort possible." I chuckled, remembering plenty of the times he jabbed at me during our quests. "Like you're too worthless to even make up a decent insult."

"Yes!" Twirltongue and the three of them traded stories of their shared torture at Ripred's hand, talking over each other and trying to one-up the last example. A whispy laugh slipped from my lips and I readjusted my hold on my father's sword, not focusing on an impending attack anymore.

Twirltongue finished rolling around in her latest fit of laughter, slowing down to give an opulent stretch. I figured she had gotten the information she needed and was going to shoo the group back to the Dead Lands. "Oh, Warrior. How I wish I'd met you before Ripred, but since I didn't, I think now would be a good time."

Before I could question what she meant, I felt one of the gnawers lunge. I managed to pull my father's sword up in time to give Reekwell a manicure before his claws could slice something very important in my neck. "No claws, Reekwell, and no blood. We need him to disappear without a trace." Twirltongue cheered. "Break his neck."

There wasn't time to investigate why they decided I needed to die. Being the Warrior? Hell, being human was enough for pretty much any gnawer. Gushgore and Reekwell double teamed me with claws and tails aimed at my neck until I felt my back against one of the cave walls. They kept my focus split from any escape attempt. As soon as I would block one snapping tail, the other would come in from the opposite direction. Something had to change or I'd drop from exhaustion.

A familiar buzz started to spread through my bloodstream as the rager sensation began to come on. My confidence rose now that I had some supernatural fighting skills behind my movements. My vision became hyper-focused even in the dim light, guiding my father's sword to weak points.

The gnawers pulled back slightly, hesitating just a second as they continued their attacks. I started pushing back in an offensive when Gushgore's tail connected with the glass of my flashlight, making the world black. In a moment of surprise, I withdrew slightly and the gnawers realized they had a severe upper hand. Their ugly laughter echoed through the cave with undistinguishable origins.

My heart rate peaked and any rager feelings evaporated. Ripred's words from so many months ago suddenly meant everything; being trapped in a cave without light and bloodthirsty rats. I clicked my tongue and shapes started to appear around me. Twirltongue was behind the boys while they relaxed slightly, knowing victory was only a few moments away.

Without giving away that I could 'see' them, I swung my father's sword blindly in front of me. One of them, Gushgore maybe, whipped the tip of his tail against the blade with more force than I anticipated and I toppled over as he nearly knocked my shoulder out of its socket. With my father's sword out of the way, Gushgore came in with his tail, hitting me in the side. The momentum shot me to the right where I could see just the faintest glow from the forgotten lantern. Dropping the broken flashlight, I managed to catch myself with my newly free hand and used the motion to start back toward the city.

Another click allowed me to see Reekwell nipping at my heels. Utilizing the leather wrist strap, I turned and threw my father's sword in a long arch. I had already spun back around and sprinted toward the stone door, but a shriek and a faint wet spray on my calves confirmed I hit him somewhere.

Not risking any attacks from behind, I didn't slow down when I came up to the large stone door. Using my momentum, I lowered my shoulder to give it a hard shove. Despite the painful shock that it sent through my shoulder and down my spine, the door shifted enough for me to squeeze through. I had just enough strength left to close it again before collapsing against it.

No scratching or pounding on the other side of the door indicated the gnawers had followed me, but I didn't move for several more minutes. Half to make sure the gnawers wouldn't try to break through but also because I couldn't feel my torso. I could feel where my shoulder made contact with the solid stone and my ribs ached where Gushgore's tail caught me.

Somehow, I managed to drag myself to the baths to rinse off the blood when attempting to peel off my tight, sweat-soaked shirt nearly caused me to black out from the pain. I cringed at my reflection. There were massive blue and purple bruise forming over the top of my left shoulder and down toward my clavicle that was for sure the source of my lack of movement. Additionally, a matching bruise was migrating up from around my abs to meet it.

Instead of thinking about it any longer, I eased into the warm bath basin and tried to zone out for a few minutes.

"There you are, Gregor." Mareth's booming voice jarred me out of my small nap. I had to swallow the cringe of the pain of the sudden movement.

"Oh, uh, hey Mareth. Is something going on?" I shifted so my left side was tilted away from the old soldier who would definitely notice the wound.

He continued to grin as he used the wooden crutch with his prosthetic. His limp was getting much better and he almost didn't need it anymore. "No, no. I just came from the hospital where I spoke to Serenity. She is very much looking forward to finally leaving. I thought I would seek you out."

I still had about an hour before I was going to meet her but I should probably get moving. "Yeah. I'm taking her to the kitchen to test out deserts for Hazard's party."

Mareth laughed. "Yes, I imagine she will find much enjoyment out of that."

I nodded. "I actually forgot to grab extra clothes, could you flag down a worker for me?"

The soldier shook his head at me and laughed some more. "Of course, Gregor."

"Thank you!" I called after him. My mood had lifted slightly but the physical pain kept nudging its way back into my mind as I waited. A scared looking boy shuffled in a few minutes later with a set of dark red clothes and towel, hesitantly set them on the bench before almost running away.

When I was sure he was gone, I slowly but surely managed my way out of the deep basin without shifting more than I had to. Getting the new clothes on was just as tricky but I put my injured side in first so it was more manageable. I headed up to the hospital with more confidence.

"Excuse me, is this the room of Miss Serenity?" I called as I entered my girlfriend's room. She looked up from her book with a large grin that seemed to melt the pain off my shoulders. "Ready to go, 'Ren?"

"Am I." She laughed that beautiful chime of a laugh that I couldn't help but smile at. Her violet irises sparkled as she came up to hug me and I was so entranced and happy that she had her spunk back that I forgot about my shoulder until her arms made contact with the sensitive area.

My vision when black and when I managed to open my eyes again, I was on my knees. "...Gregor! Gregor?" I blinked a few times to focus, reaching out to hold her hand. I gave a humorless laugh in an attempt to calm her and possibly myself. "What happened? Is it your shoulder? Let me see."

I tried to wave her off, claiming it wasn't that big of a deal, but she managed to get the shirt off my good side in my recovering haze before sliding it down the injured side. Serenity gasped at the sight of the still-forming bruises. "Gregor! What happened?"

The gentle concern was gone and replaced by a rougher, angry concern as she ghosted over the wounds. "Ripred likes to hit me during our lessons when I can't keep my echolocation going. He just got a little overzealous today, that's all. I promise."

"Gregor?" Luxa questioned as she entered from the adjoining room. I realized we were both on the floor; me half falling over, unable to really support my own weight, and Serenity kneeling next to me.

An airy, admittedly painful, laugh escaped my lungs because after our fight last night, of course this is how we would talk for the first time. "Hey, Lux. What's up?" The Queen eyed me silently before looking to Serenity. "Ripred's lesson got a little out of hand today, that's all." I explained quickly, trying to downplay it, especially to her.

That only made Luxa frown and her sharp purple eyes to narrow. "Ripred sent word that he needed to find something and would not make your lesson today." I felt Serenity's nails dig into my good arm. "He did not tell you?"

I sighed. "No, he most definitely did not."

Luxa crossed her arms and Serenity leaned back, clearly, both of them didn't appreciate my false story. "Then what truly caused this?"

Leaning back on my heels, I let out a long breath. "I went to the cave to meet Ripred, but he wasn't there. I waited for a while when I heard something down the tunnel, so I figured it was a challenge and follow it. I was ambushed by three gnawers." Serenity gasped again and wrapped herself around my good arm while Luxa's stern expression eased just a tad. "I got hit by a tail a few times but managed to get away. I didn't want to risk stopping to push the huge stone out of the way so I tried to use my momentum. It worked, but this was the result."

Luxa didn't speak for a moment before shifting her weight to one hip. "You did not think to tell me about a pack of gnawers infiltrating the caves beneath my city?"

"I'm sorry, I'm still a little shaken up by the whole thing." I turned my gaze down, trying to sell the pitty routine just like Jimmy coached me.

"Luxa, he is injured and in shock." Serenity came to my rescue.

She shook her head but sighed in defeat. "That bone may be broken, Gregor. You need to see a doctor."

I started protesting immediately, trying to stand on my own despite my torso screaming at me to stop. Serenity helped me and insisted I lean against her at least a little. I hissed quietly to myself but it must have been loud enough because Luxa had already fetched a doctor and I was being herded into an exam room.

Thankfully it only took some painkillers and a sling to satisfy the doctors. I was getting the sling adjusted when Luxa walked in. The doctor gave her a small bow before hurrying out, leaving the two of us. "You know, a thought came to me. If Ripred and now these gnawers could get into that cave, wouldn't it be really easy for other rats or like, an army, to storm the palace?"

"It has been there for hundreds of years and withstood its worth of attacks." She sighed. "We are fully aware of its prospect as a weak spot."

"Well, that's good at least." She nodded her agreement but stayed silent. "I'm sorry for...what I said yesterday. It was inconsiderate and rude."

"Yes."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand. She was going to make me do all the work, and I guess I kind of deserve it. As I opened my mouth to try to continue my pathetic apology when Vikus walked in. "Gregor! I came as soon as I heard. How fare you?"

"Oh, you know me, Vikus. It takes more than running into a wall to knock me down." I shook his hand as he approached my bed. "How are you? I know Solovet's trial is soon." I felt for that old man. It looked like he had aged years in the last few weeks with all the stress of his wife's role in the plague epidemic.

At first, Solovet was just going to get a slap on the wrist and be dismissed, but with new death totals coming in, even the humans were upset with her. Many of her critics claimed Solovet used Dr. Neveeve, the researcher who had been executed quickly after we returned from our failed quest in the jungle, as a scapegoat since she was the head of the Regalian military and gave the official order.

Vikus patted my unbruised shoulder with a heavy sigh. "We will push on, it is all we can do. Shall we focus on more positive events? Luxa tells me you relieved her of planning Hazard's celebration?"

"Yes, Serenity and I were going to try some of the deserts Hazard requested."

The old man chuckled and helped me stand from the bed. "Well, after the day you have had, I believe indulging in sugar is well deserved." He shot me a wink and Luxa a smile before heading out of the hospital.

"Where'd Serenity go off to anyway?" I asked the princess as she led me out of the hospital in a vaguely familiar route.

"I sent her to the kitchen." Luxa supplied over her shoulder without even turning, continuing down more hallways toward what I now remembered as the kitchen. "I thought it would calm her. She was very distraught over your injuries."

I couldn't help but smile. "Well, she's an amazing person-"

"Not because you were injured, Gregor." Luxa interrupted me outside the stone arch that led to the kitchen. It wasn't obstructed by any curtains, which would probably be a fire hazard anyway, and she stopped us several feet before it to avoid being seen. I could hear excited voices talking about pastries and fillings as well as feel the heat from the stoves, even from this distance. "For the implications of a pack of dangerous gnawers beneath her feet has on the morality of many citizens."

"Not many people know about those tunnels, do they?" The question answered itself as Luxa's hushed voice and heavy tone indicated quite loudly.

She nodded anyway. "This is why Vikus agreed to let Ripred stage his insistent 'lessons'."

"You roll your eyes but those 'lessons' probably saved my life after Twirltongue's goons knocked out my flashlight."

Luxa suddenly got very serious, gripping my arm and pushing me further from the kitchen opening. "Twirltongue was the gnawer who attacked you?"

I shrugged the best I could with one shoulder. "She mostly just watched but yeah, you know her?"

The Queen shook her head, gazing down the hallway we just came from as her mind went somewhere else. "Whispers. Rumors. She is quite a force amongst the gnawers."

"Ripred mentioned she could convince anyone of anything. I see what he meant. She tried to pretend it was a friendly visit. Tried to suck information out of me. She ordered the attack when she realized I wasn't going to give her anything."

That didn't seem to help whatever was going on in Luxa's head but she snapped out of it quickly. "Go, plan Hazard's party. I will investigate this further. Quietly. Tell no one, especially Serenity. We will speak further tonight."

I barely had time to acknowledge the plan before she was gone. I blinked at her accelerating shadow. I guess that meant she had forgiven me. I shook my head and finally passed through the threshold into the kitchen. Serenity noticed me immediately and it made my heart happy to see all shreds of concern and anxiety have gone from her expression as she grinned from ear to ear. More flour was on her apron and face than the lump of pastry dough she was kneading but she was completely in her element.

"You know, this goes _in _the dough, not _on _you." I snarked as I pulled up a stone stool to the other side of the counter. "I'd help, but…"

Serenity waved a hand at me. "You would be of no assistance with one arm or four." The cooks behind her laughed until I shot them a glare that barely had any real menace behind it. "Hazard must have been half starved when he compiled this list."

I laughed, glancing at the shortened arrangement I had jot down on a spare piece of parchment yesterday. "That's probably a quarter of what he gave me, but I had a great idea for the centerpiece cake. Get this, we line it with frosting in the shape of animals."

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**So here we have another chapter! **

**I'll admit I'm struggling a little trying to keep the schedule with exam week coming up, but I'm going to do my damnest to keep updating. I'm having a problem with my enrollment right now and since the computer I use technically belongs to the school, I may have to turn it in if we can't sort this out soon. If that does happen, there will be a small dip in my updating, but I do all my writing through google docs so when I manage to brush the dust off my old personal computer, I'll be up and running again. Of course, I hope that doesn't happen, but we'll see.**

**Always yours,**

**Artemis.**


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